Father Time isn’t exactly kind to us. He seems to feel the need to cause us to be more proactive with our health and fitness if we wish to keep it. One such thing that Father Time does is decrease testosterone in men once they hit the age of around 30. A decrease in testosterone can cause muscle loss, an increase in body fat accumulation, a higher risk for heart issues and other illnesses, and a reduction in strength. It’s time you push back and take control by leveraging things that can boost testosterone naturally.
In this article, we will look at several things you can do starting TODAY that can help effectively boost testosterone naturally to support your overall health, fitness, and physique.
1. Lift Heavy Weights
One of the best things you can do to boost testosterone naturally is to lift heavy weights. Now, that doesn’t mean you need to max out on every lift. Instead, focus on using a heavy weight that can be controlled and allow you to achieve anywhere from 8-12 reps to promote hypertrophy.
Put your focus on compound movements like the squat, deadlift, bench press, and military press, which involve multiple muscle groups to complete the exercise.
Lifting heavy weights can also help you better maintain your lean muscle tissue as you age, as well as support your strength. The more lean muscle mass you are able to keep as you age, the easier you may find it to prevent gaining body fat, thanks to your lean muscle tissue keeping your metabolism revving all day long to support muscle contraction and functioning.
Your body will also demand energy (from burning calories) to help repair and recover broken-down muscle fibers from your intense workouts.
2. Improve Sleep Quality
I get it, you like to burn the midnight oil getting work done or catching up on your favorite television shows. However, if you’re not getting adequate sleep, you may be causing your testosterone levels to plummet.
If you want to boost testosterone naturally, you need to focus on getting a minimum of seven hours of quality sleep each night. A study looked at what sleep deprivation can do to hormone levels and found that those who only get five hours of sleep each night showed a decrease in testosterone by as much as 15%.
In order to boost testosterone naturally, focus on getting to bed early enough to get the recommended seven hours (minimum) of sleep. If you must, set an alarm for when you need to get to bed in order to achieve this. For instance, if you need to wake up at 6am, make sure you get in bed by 10:30pm to ensure you’re asleep by 11pm to get a full seven hours of quality sleep.
3. Reduce Stress
It’s no surprise that stress can negatively affect your hormones. In fact, stress affects a few different hormones. If you’re stressed, it can cause an increase in a stress hormone known as cortisol. Cortisol then starts a domino effect, such as increasing a hunger hormone called ghrelin. If you’ve ever been stressed and all you want to do is eat, that’s precisely the reason why.
When cortisol rises, it (alone) has the ability to lower testosterone levels. It can also cause you to increase estrogen levels which may cause you to store excess body fat and gain weight – both of which can further cause your testosterone levels to take a nosedive.
To boost testosterone naturally, you need to manage and reduce your stress levels. This may be easier said than done but find ways to relax. This can be through workouts, meditation, reading a book at night, sitting in a quiet room, and focusing on your breathing, yoga, [fill in the blank with what works for you here].
4. Eat Healthy Fats
Something that doesn’t get enough attention these days is just how essential healthy fats are when it comes to hormones. Unfortunately, far too many people jump on fad diets that can not only damage their metabolism when they are being told to eliminate entire macronutrients, but it can alter your testosterone level as well.
Eating sufficient amounts of healthy fat in your diet can help boost testosterone naturally. A few things you can do to increase your healthy fats would be to consume more fatty fish, include natural nut butter in your diet, use oils such as coconut or olive when cooking, include nuts as part of a healthy snack, and consume more eggs, just to name a few options.
5. Get Enough Vitamin D
Last on our list of effective ways to boost testosterone naturally is to pay closer attention to your vitamin D levels. While there’s no test you can do at home on a daily basis to ensure you are getting an adequate intake, merely look at the foods you’re consuming, the supplements you’re taking, and how much exposure to sunlight you’re getting each day.
Something that no one is talking about is that most people in the United States are vitamin D deficient without even knowing it. Levels can get severely low in the colder months when people are not outside in direct sunlight for long periods of time.
By supplementing with a minimum of 3,000 IU of vitamin D each day, you have the ability to increase your testosterone by as much as 25%.
If you know you aren’t getting enough vitamin D from your nutrition and are not spending time outdoors in direct sunlight, it would be wise to supplement with a quality vitamin D product to ensure you are not deficient. If you want a quick and easy way to get enough daily vitamin D and boost testosterone naturally, consider a product like Simple Supplements Vitamin D3.
Simple Supplements Vitamin D3 is a simple solution to your micronutrient needs. This once-a-day supplement contains 5,000 IU of high-quality vitamin D3 to help you take in and utilize all of the benefits that can be had from this extremely powerful and vital micronutrient. Don’t allow Father Time the ability to change your current health and physique. Boost testosterone naturally through the help of vitamin D!
